India & China’s Defence Ministers meet today

Courtesy : Defence correspondent21/08/2018 22:59

Delhi/ Chinese defence minister Lt Gen Wei Fenghe on a four-day visit to India. Tuesday both countries Defence minister will aims at a better communication between the armies of both countries to avoid issues like Doklam. There are chances that both ministers may discuss a hotline facility between military headquarters of both nations.

This will be the second meeting between them this year after Indian defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman met him during her visit to Beijing in April to take part in the defence ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Wuhan in April end and decided to issue strategic guidance to their militaries aimed at de-escalating tension after the Doklam standoff.The Chinese defence minister's visit is expected to boost military ties that the informal Wuhan Summit paved the way for.More meetings and better communication between field commanders is part of confidence building measures put in place after the two leaders met in Wuhan to de-escalate tension.

The 73-day standoff last year was triggered after Indian troops stopped Chinese road construction in Doklam -- a region under dispute between China and Bhutan. It was felt that road connectivity would give China direct access to the Siliguri corridor giving them strategic advantage and it had to be stopped since it violated the status quo agreed upon by the three countries.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Gen Wei's visit comes in the backdrop of steady improvement of relations between the two countries. "For some time, you would have noticed that China-India relations are improving steadily. Exchanges and cooperation in all areas have moved forward, including the military-to-military exchanges," he said while replying to a question on the significance of Gen Wei's visit to India.

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Col Ren Guoqiang told media earlier that during the visit the two countries forged consensus to implement the decisions reached by PM Modi and Xi at Wuhan.

They also agreed to control risks at the border area, expand joint tactical drills, strengthening culture and sports interactions between the border defence forces, and jointly safeguarding peace and stability at the border, Col Ren said.